Grilled Pesto Vegetable Pizza Recipe - Cookin Canuck (2024)

These grilled vegetable pizzas, slathered with pesto and topped with smoky, tender vegetables will keep your vegetarian guests happy all summer long!

I wasn't a very good listener the first time I made grilled pizza. It all went down at one of my cooking group's monthly cookfests years ago and the theme was grilling. With the barbecue fired up on the back dec, we each took a turn making our assigned dishes - appetizer, salad and so on. When my turn came, our host and experienced maker of grilled pizzas told me, "Be sure to have all of your ingredients ready and close at hand when you put the dough on the grill because things are going to move very quickly."

And that's when things all went to pot.

It turns out that when you're grilling pizza and you leave half of the ingredients in the kitchen, you'll find yourself running frantically from grill to kitchen, yelling at your friends to flip the dough so it doesn't burn. That's a good way to keep the love flowing at the party, let me tell you.

Moral of the story. First of all, listen to your friends. They're usually pretty wise. Second, put all of your pizza grilling ingredients in one place, preferably lined up the order that you'll use them, or things are gonna get real very quickly. I use a baking sheet to hold the bowls of ingredients, plus any utensils I need to transfer those ingredients to the pizza dough (spoons, tongs, whatever).

I managed to make grilled pizza sound like a bit of a cook's nightmare, didn't I? It really isn't, I promise. As long as you're more organized than I was that first time, you'll be just fine. And let me tell you, the smoky flavor and light texture of grilled dough is well worth the effort.

Every part of this pesto veggie pizza is made on the grill, which is a relief in the middle of the summer. The last thing I want to do on a scorching hot day is to heat up the kitchen by turning on the oven or cooktop. Brush the veggies with a little olive, season with salt and pepper, and give them a quick turn on the grill. If you're not a fan of eggplant or any of the other veggies I used, mix things up to suit your preferences.

Other grilled vegetarian recipes:

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan with Zucchini
Grilled Thai Vegetable Tacos
Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

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